Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

The Z8 and Z9 do not have a full auto mode.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

After owning both Canon and Nikon I prefer Sony's line of mirrorless cameras...

bwa

Jersey guy Loc: New Joisey

How come no one stirred the pot by asking about Cell phone cameras vis a vis traditional cameras? That ought to extend this thread by a few hundred pages.

b top gun

I had a Canon pocket sized point & shoot a few years back; it delivered the worst distortion of images I have ever seen from a digital camera, far worse than my first digital, a Nikon point and shoot. That Canon camera is buried somewhere in my closet.

I am a big fan of the Nikon D850; it has been my go to camera since it came out. I had resisted any and all attempts to go mirrorless. Then I got a personal invitation to attend an after hours hands on/meet and greet evening at a local camera store; the guest speaker was a Nikon ambassador who also happened to be the official team photographer for the Seattle Seahawks NFL team; he shared his experience using the Z8. It was a very informative evening that got me to thinking about the Z8 which had just been announced. At the same time I had been considering going to Alaska for my first time ever.

Visiting Alaska was slowly becoming a reality, then Nikon made me an offer I could not refuse; get a Z8, pay for it over 24 months interest free. The rest is history as they say; I got back from Alaska on Friday evening a week ago.
I had both my D850 and Z8 with; started out splitting the shooting between both systems; by day three I was using the Z8 95% of the time.

My long time friend and travel companion, we "struck gold" in Alaska; autumn colors were in full bloom the week we were out there; had partial to mostly sunshine every day. The weather gods smiled on us that week, even Denali was 99% cloud free and we got to see a mature grizzly less than 150 yards away while in Denali.

An aside, I used my cell phone for some pics and video too; I have a Samsung S22+, it did not disappoint.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Well, not everyone!

gwilliams6

The usual Canon Fanboys here in UHH will always have their say bashing Sony and Nikon, LOL. .

THE PRO REALITY:
The Top Worldwide News Services have ditched their DLSRs, mostly Canon, and all have moved to mirrorless cameras and mirrorless lens systems for their staff photographers and staff videographers worldwide. .

Associated Press; all Gannett Media including USA Today; Canadian Press; UK's Top News Service have all moved exclusively to Sony mirrorless gear for ALL their staff photographers and staff videographers around the world after years of testing Sony gear around the world in the toughest conditions.

AFP (Agence France Presse) helped develop and test the Nikon Z9, and AFP uses the Z9 for their staffers worldwide.

None of these Top Worldwide News Services chose Canon mirrorless, NONE. . Just a fact.

Read why these Top Worldwide News Services went to Sony and Nikon mirrorless gear for their staffers worldwide:

https://alphauniverse.com/stories/why-the-associated-press-just-switched-to-sony/

https://petapixel.com/2021/11/17/sony-is-now-the-exclusive-camera-provider-for-gannett-and-usa-today/

https://www.dpreview.com/news/4545693607/the-uk-largest-news-agency-partners-with-sony

https://petapixel.com/2022/01/31/canadas-largest-news-organization-moves-exclusively-to-sony-cameras/#:~:text=Canada's%20Largest%20News%20Agency%20Moves%20Exclusively%20to%20Sony%20Cameras,-Jan%2031%2C%202022&text=The%20Canadian%20Press%2C%20the%20largest,provider%20for%20the%20media%20company.

https://petapixel.com/2022/06/09/how-pro-photographers-helped-make-the-z9-from-prototype-to-flagship/

And Canon fanboys will talk about Canon's overall lead in total camera worldwide sales. But as Tony and Chelsea Northrup noted in their video on the state of each of the major camera companies in 2023, Canon's overall sales numbers are 50% from Canon's dominance of the DSLR market, where they have 75% of DSLR sales, impressive.

In mirrorless sales, Sony is #1 and still leads worldwide over Canon in mirrorless sales; and Sony also is #1 and leads in mirrorless sales over Canon mirrorless in their home country of Japan. Independent CIPA and BCN numbers confirm this. Sony doesn't make any DSLRs.

Whether you choose to shoot with the still-excellent DLSRs around, or you have decided to move to mirrorless for all the performance advantages of mirrorless that NO DSLR can physically ever have, use what you love, use what works for you, use what you already have paid for, and be happy and just keep taking photos .

Full disclosure, I have owned and used pro Nikon and Canon cameras and lenses (both brands, with some Leica too) for 40+ years , and then moved over to Sony Mirrorless back in January 2017. I loved my Nikon, Canon and Leica gear, and made many memorable and National and International Award Winning shots with my Nikon, Canon and Leica gear, covering all subjects around the world from breaking news, pro sports to war conflict and more.

As a Sony shooter I have continued to make award-winning shots covering subjects around the world. I have owned Sony A6500, A7RII, A7RIII, A7III, A9, A7RIV, and currently own Sony A1, A7RV, A7SIII. I currently have 13 mirrorless-designed E-mount lenses covering 10mm to 600mm from Sony, Sigma, Tamron, Viltrox.

Cheers and best to you all, whatever gear you prefer to use.

Boris77

Nikon wMirror & 20-24MP sensor is all you need. Great menu system, and the price can be right.
Boris

gwilliams6

1

tcthome Loc: NJ

anotherview Loc: California

Rent to try the mirrorless camera. Your experience will then guide you to an answer.

From the sales hype, I've gathered that the mirrorless cameras incorporate more features and functions.

Yet, so far, I've not seen a definitive report saying that mirrorless cameras produce a significantly better image quality then a DSLR.

The hyperbole pushing the mirrorless camera reminds me of a similar pitch for the introduction of video capability in a DSLR, as if it presented a breakthrough in image-making. Etc.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Canon and Nikon make excellent products. Both camera's will deliver sharp images.
The results you get from any modern camera is up to the photographer, NOT the camera.
You should buy the camera that fits your style of shooting.
When I was a professional I shot, Nikon, Canon, Hasselblad, Topcon, Konica, Leica, Minolta, Kowa, Olympus, and Mamiya.
I got excellent results using all of these camera's.
If I was buying a camera in today's market, it would be a mirrorless camera, there are many advantages of a mirrorless over a DSLR. Once your into mirrorless, you won't go back.
Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

Haha! Too true.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

Speak softly and carry a Canon.

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

VERY WELL SAID!!!! Enough already. Take your pick and be happy with it.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

Welcome to the forum. You have re-sparked the battle of brand fanatics.
Here is my take. Full disclosure, I’m a lifelong Nikonite, with a short diversion to Sony, then back to Nikon.

I do not think you can buy a bad camera today. The quality of the bodies and lenses have increased dramatically. Your decision should be made on several factors.
1. Do you already have and lenses from any of the main brands? If so, you should consider that. You can use DSLR lenses on mirrorless bodies with adaptors. While I have purchased the new mirrorless lenses, I also use some of my legacy DSLR lenses on my mirrorless bodies, no issue at all.
2. Mirrorless is the newer technology that provides more efficient image capture and better optics to body relationship, in smaller bodies. Mirrorless also provides realtime viewing of what your settings will capture, before you push the shutter button. If you go with professional grade lenses, the reduced weight and size factor is somewhat minimized.
3. Due to mirrorless development, there are tons of DSLRs on the market at reduced prices. The prices of great lenses have also dropped due to the new lenses designed for mirrorless bodies. But remember, Nikon and Canon are dropping design, production and support for the DSLR equipment in their transition to mirrorless only.
4. Ergonomics. An important factor that is personal preference. I prefer the look and feel of Nikon, probably because I have been using them for 50 years. Not knocking Canon, I haven’t used them.
5. Menus and intuitiveness. I find the Nikon menus to be logical and intuitive. Sony provided great images, but was the worst for menus when I had the A7R2 and A7R3. That’s why I went back to Nikon. Not sure if they have made them any simpler since then.
6. You can rent them to see what your personal preference is before you buy. Sites like borrowlenses.com are great resources. I would check them out.
7. As for simplicity, photography is boiled down into three simple concepts of capturing light. Shutter speed, which freezes or blurs motion, aperture, which controls your depth of field and ISO, which controls the speed at which your sensor captures light. They are all closely related and changing one has a 1 to 1 impact on one of the other two. It’s really easy.

Simplicity comes from how you set up your camera. Many are all fully adjustable from fully automatic to completely manual. Even the menus have options to show and hide functionality, at least on Nikons. You can set up personalized menus with the things you adjust the most. But don’t let complexity scare you. Photography is not as complicated as people think it is. It requires an understanding of how the triangle of exposure works, and muscle memory of how your camera works. Just get out there and use your camera.

Learn what a histogram does and you will be able to capture images with proper exposure, which is very important.

This forum is a great resource of very generous people who are happy to provide opinions and assistance. I have learned so much from some of the participants and am very appreciative of their knowledge and generosity.

I am always happy to assist. Just go get a camera and use it!!!